Overseaming and blindstitching machine.



No. 741,465. PATENTEDOGT. 1a, 1903'.

I. immvls. OVERSEAMING AND BLINDSTITGHING MACHINE. v

APPLIOATIOH FILED MAY 10, 1902. I

no IODEL. 4 sums-sum 1.

fi W v PATENTED OCT. 13, 1903.

APPLICATION I'ILBD MAY 10, 1902.

4 SHEETS-SHBET 2.

no MODEL.

% Rig-Q )ggieasw WPA'I'ENTED OCT. 13, 1903', I. P. DAVIS. OVERSEAMING AND BLINDSTITGHING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED HAY 10 1902.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

K0 IODBL.

No. 741,465. PATENTE'D OCT. 13, 1903'.

I. P. DAVIS. OVERSEAMING AND BLINDSTITGHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 10, 1902.

N0 MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

Isaac r. DYAVIS, OF SPRINGFIELD, MA

- the construction of thelooper mechanism of stitching machines, and is in the nature of an without impairing theefliciencyof the feedprovide improved means for readily adjust- W. HYDE, OF SPRINGFIELD,,"MASSVA'OHUSET'IS.

Patented October 13, 1903.

ssAoHUsErTsnssIeNoR 'ro JEROME iovE sE 'M mc AND BLINIDSTI'FI'CHI'INGMACHINE;

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentzNo. 741,465,da.ted October 13,' 1903. "S Apjallqatiohfiledliayli),1902- SerialNo. 106.712. (Nomodehl 1 To all whom-1 it may concern: 1 a Be it known that I, ISAAC :P. DAVIS, a-citizen of theUnited States of America, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampdeu and State ofMassachusetts,have invented new and useful Improvements in Sewing-Machines, of which the. following is a specification.

r This invention relatestosewing-machines, and particularly to overseaming and blindimprovement on the construction shown and described in United States Letters Patent issued to Charles A. Dearbornon December 19, 1809, No. 639,669. 1 w

' The object of this invention is toimprove machines of the class of which the above patent is an example, and a further object is to improve the feed mechanism. I

The object of the improvement in the'looper mechanism is to provide a device of this .characterin whichthe thread-engaging end thereof shall have its longitudinally-reciprocating movements in oneplane to the end that the movements of the operative end of this part shall be restricted to thesho rtest path possible and to the end that said end of the looper-finger may be materially reduced away with. I

The object of the improvement in the feed mechanism is to provide a reciprocating feed consisting of separate members operating as one piece, which members are spring-held against the work, one on each side of the line of stitches, to adapt the feed mechanism to operate on a double thickness of cloth on one side and a single thickness on the other side ing mechanism as a whole, and, further, to

ing the feed to increase or diminish'it.

.ln thedrawings forming part of this application, Figure l is a side elevation of'a machine embodying this invention, showing the bearing, of the looper-shaft in section. Fig. 2 is an elevation'of the opposite side of the machine. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the machine. Fig.4 is a sectional view taken on line 4 4, Fig. 1, through the feeding devices. Figs. 5 and 6 are difierent views of the loopcrfinger. 7 is .an endview of the needlebar and looper-shaft and showing the =looper.-

fingerin section,- said section being taken through the flattened end of the finger. In its generalfeaturesfhis machin'eresembles the construction whichformsthe subjectmatter of. the patentto .Dearborn above re-.

ferred to, though-in manyminor points I changes .incidental to the improvements above referred to have beenmade.

The frame of the machine comprises a base a, at one. end of which and preferablyintegral therewith is the vertical standard 12', V

from the'upper portion of oneside of which 6 5 there extends to the forward end of the base a an arm '0, which, as shown in Fig. 3, is somewhat oifset from the side 1 ofthe-base. The cloth-plate d is supported on the forward 5 end'of an arm-e, which is hungon'the standard b at-f and may thus swing more or less in a vertical plane. Under the forward end of this arm'c is a spring 9, which presses it upwardx This' spring is provided with an adjustingnut whereby itstension "may be changed.

h To limit the vertical adjustment of the cloth-plate (1 there is secured on the basea an armh, the upper end of. which extends horizon'tally over the end of another arm-i, which is secured to the arm e, and there extends down through the'said horizontal upper end of "the arm h an adj UStiDg-SGIGW j,the lower end of which constitutes a stop for the arm '5 and consequently of the cloth-plate 'd. The

object of "this adjustment is to provide a proper contact between thecloth and a-rigidly-supported Presser-foot is, supported in the'end of the arm c'and rigidly secured thereto when the machine is in operation; but this prcsser-footis adjustable vertically by means'of the screw m when it becomes necessary to adjust the machine to operate on various thicknesses of material. The-adj ustment of the presser-foot, however,is one which afiects its relation only to the-needle and looper-finger, the cloth-plate being ad-, justed according to thechanges made in the position of the presser-foot and according to the thickness ofthe material between itand lo;

the cloth-plate d. The adjusting-screw m is supported in the end of a spring-arm m,

standing well above the level of the clothtable. The sides of this rib are cut away, as shown in Figs 1 and 2, to permit the upper serrated edgesof the feed-plates to be moved 'therethrough slightly beyond the surface thereof into contact with thework,the presserfoot 70 being formed to fit over the upper edge of the rib n, as shown in Fig. ,3, and constituting the point of resistance for the feed mechanism. These features are common in overseaming or blindstitching machines and are essential for the proper presentation of the work to the needle, and, broadly, they do not constitute a part of this invention.

The feed devices on this machine are carried on the cloth-plate d, and they receive their operative movements by means of an eccentric 0, (shown in Fig. 3 and in dotted lines in Fig. 2,) which eccentric is operatively connected with a crank-arm p, on the hub of which is a slotted arm q, the axis of these arms being at f, which is the axis on which the cloth-plate swings.

Near the forward end of the arm e is a shaft 4', extending transversely thereof in abearing cast on the arm c. On one end of this shaft is a crank 5-, and a connecting-rod 25 extends back therefrom to the arm q, being secured in the slot therein adjustably, whereby the throw of the feed-plates, actuated by the shaft 0', may be adjusted by swinging the rear end of this connecting-rod toward or from the axis of the arm g. This adjustment is provided for herein by means of a screw to, rotatably supported on the hub of the arm q, the-other end of the screw having a threaded engagement with a block 12, which is adapted to slide in the slot of the arm q and to which block the connecting-rod tis pivotally secured. On that end of the shaft 0 opposite to that on which the crank s is secured there is, as shown clearly in Fig. 1, asecond crank-arm'w, which by means of a link a; is connected with a block y, pivotally supported at 2 on a slide 3, which is seen in end view in Fig. 3, and has a sliding movement parallel with and close to the under side of the cloth-plate d. In Fig. 1 the feed mechanism is shown in full lines at the end of its movement in one direction and in dotted lines atthe limit of its movement in the opposite direction. By means of the connection with the block y and the pivotal support of the latter at the upper corner thereof, as at 2, it is seen that the oscillations of the shaft 7* will impart to said block first an upwardly-swinging movement on the slide and then, together with the latter, a horizontal movement under the cloth-plate and parallel therewith. The opposite sides of the blocky clearly in Fig. at. Each of these plates is provided with an elongated slot 6, oppositely located one to another, and a pin 7 extends through the block y and into these slots, whereby the movement of these plates 4 and 5 vertically may belimited.

plates do not extend to the lower edge of the block y, but the slots in which these plates are supported stop short of that, thus providing a shoulder between which and the lower edge of the feed-plates there may be located a spring 8, whereby normally the feed-plates are pressed upwardly to the limit of the movement in this direction which is permitted by the slots 6. Thus when at the beginning of the movement of the feed mechanism the block y, which carries these plates, is swung upwardly prior, to its horizontal movement the upper serrated edges of the feed-plates come to a bearing against the under side of the fabric, which is held 'down over the openings in the rib n by the presser-foot, and upon such contact therewith each plate will yield vertically according to the thickness of the cloth which is interposed between it and the resser-foot, and, as in all overseaming where a single edge of fabric is being bound down to the rest of the fabric, the thickness of the material must be on one side of the rib or double that on the other side. The necessity for this adjustability of the feed-plates is obvious.

Coming now to the needle mechanism and looper mechanism, both are operated from the driving-shaft 9 of the machine, and the needle mechanism will be first described. The needle-shaft 10 is supported in bearings 12, (shown in Fig. 1,) which are cast, respectively, on the upper part of the standard b and the forward end of the arm a. On one end of this shaft 10 is secured the needlearm 13, and onthe opposite end of the shaft isa crank 14, only the hub of which shows in Figs. 1 and 2. Referring to said Fig. l, the crank-arm in the position in which the parts are shown extends away from the observer andits extremity (in the shape of a post 15, whose position is indicated in dotted lines only) passes through a 'ball 16, rotatably secured in the end of an arm 17, is eccentrieally mounted on the shaft 9. The rotation of this shaft therefore will impart verticallyreciprocating movements to the arm 17 which by means of the crank connection through the .balljoint described will impart to the shaft 10 the requisite oscillatory movement which is necessary to move the curved needle 18 through the fabric held between the presser-foot 7s and the top of the rib n. The needle 18, as in all machines of this class, is substantially concentric to the needle-shaft l0, and the needle-arm 13 is ad- It is shown in the drawings that the feedare provided with vertical slots to receive the 7 two feed-plates 4 and 5, which are shown ICC which justably secured on the end of this shaft to provide for the proper adjustment of the needle in its relation to. other parts.

The looper devices, which constitute one of the essential novel features of this invention, consist of a looper-shaft 19 and a looper finger 20, eccentrically mounted on the end of the loopershaft and parallel therewith. The looper-shaft runs in the rigid bearing 21, depending from the arm c, as shown clearly in Fig. 1. 'This bearing may be provided with the split bushing 22 at either end thereof, which may be screwed into the tapered end of the bearing, whereby all wear between the bushings and the looper-shaft may be taken up. This looper-shaft has two movements in its bearings, one rotative and the other endwise, which movements are imparted thereto by means of the. inclined crank--stud-23, Which-is eccentrically supported on theend of the shaft 9 and whose axis is inclined tothe planeof its rotation on the shaft 9.. The degree of its eccentricity determines the end wise' -1novement of .the.

looper-shaft 1'9, and-thedegree'of its 'inclina tion relative to the plane of its rotation determines the degree of the rocking or oscilsection 24. Thelatter' is made endw'ise ad-' lating movement of the. looper shaft. Connection between this point 23 and thelooper-.

shaft is in the form of a double-jointed shaftthereof which is cut away at the pointto produce-the flattened end 25.

nates in a shoulder 26," which serves to hold the thread close to the end of the finger when the loop is picked up. After the needle has passed through the fabric carrying the thread with it and has reached the limitofitsmove the line r the thread drawn between the; work andthe needle. ,Refi'dhing theen'd'of" lts forward movement, the ,looper-finger be} ment in that directionlwhichposition is shown in Fig. 3) it begins its retrograde movement, which latter 'slackens up the thread between thefabric and the eye of the needle, and at this moment the position of the looperfinger is substantially that shown in said Fig. 3, and as the looper finger advances, picking up theloop on the flattened end 2 5 the needle continues it sretrograde m'oyement, 1 during which the Ilooper-fin'ger crosses the path of the needle carrying the loop beyond I gins its oscillatory movement, whichis completedat, aboutthe'tinie or soon after the" needle has finished its retrograde movement.

The "needle at this point begins a new forward movement and simultaneously the looperfinger begins a rearward longitudinal The latter termimovement, the point of the needle crossing the looper-finger just prior tothe momentwhen the shoulder 26, around which the thread is looped, traverses the path of the needle.

- The rocking movement whereby the looperfinger is carried over from one side of the line of stitches to the other moves the flattened extremity thereof .from the position. it oecu-' pics in a horizontal, planeon one side to a position in a vertical plane. at the other side,

the efiect of which is to open the loop which:

passes around said flattened end. Thismovement, however, does not permit anyslack-ene ingof the loop which passes aroundthissfl-at;

tened end and bears on the shoulder 26. As clearly shown in Fig. 7, when the looper-finger has performed this oscillatory movementacross the line of stitching, it lies-belowlther levelof the work where the stitching is being done, and thereforethe thread running from the upper side of the looper-fin-ger through the work lies' in a position=diagonal to and' upwardly-inclined to the path-of: the'needle ;and in a position therefore adapted to permit the latter to pass through theloop. I :The'position of the loop diagonal to" the path'of the (needle is due to the fact that the beginning of the feed movement-takesplace,justafter the crossing over'of the loopand just allittle ahead of the retrograde movement of the loop-' er-finger. The needle afterpassingthrough the loop which is cast off by the retrograde movement of the looper-finger continues its forward movement-through the material, the cast-off loop remaining" slack until another loop is picked upbythe-looper finger, which operation draws the"nextpreceding loop or stitch tight, as the resistance of the tension devices, whichrwill be referred to later, prevents the thread from payin'golf through the needle; 1

It is highly essential to the proper operationofthe 'machineithat the" loop should be forward-'ofthethread extending from the needle to the work when the needle in its for.- ward movement passes through the loop, and

to insure this position of the thread a groove 27 is made partially around the looper-finger,

both ends of. which groove show in Fig. 5'and.

only one end of which shows in Fig. 6. This groove is in such position on the looper-finger that when the latter. has moved across the stitchline at the forward end of its stroke itv will locate this groove substantially on the line of thread extending from thefwork back "tothe'point of the needle, the needle at this time beingat the end of its retrograde movement; lTherefore, when the needle goes for-' flward again, the thread from the needle, which atthis time will partly encircle the looperfin'ger, is carried backward by the rearward {movement ofthe looper-finger, and is thus prevented from being carried over'the shoulder I26 wh en tl1 e machine is running rapidly, which displacement of thread would not carry the latter through the loop correctly.

The tension devices consist in the usual spring-actuated friction-disks 28, which are located between the spool and the take-up. The latter is'indicated by 29 and is of the usual type of a swinging lever, which at the proper time-that is, just prior to the 0 1m mencement of the retrograde movement of the needle-is so swung as to take up the slack in the thread resulting from such movement. This take-up arm is operated by an eccentric 30 on the driving-shaft 9, having a connecting-arm 31, pivotally connected at 32 to the take-up arm.

This machine possesses the advantage of operatingin perfectly straight lines in the forward and rearward movements of the looperfinger, and for that reason possesses great advantage over the construction shown in the Dearborn patent, above referred to, in that it works through a shorter path of movement, and by reason of the operation thereof in straight lines it is found much easier to regulate the tension on the thread to produce a uniform stitch. Furthermore, the thumb and finger formation of the looper-finger is done away with.

In connection with the looper-finger it is to be further noted that there is a very distinct and decid ed advantage in the employment of a straight looper-finger working in a plane parallel with the fabric or cloth plate in the forward and backward movements of the finger instead of having the finger of curved form and describing a curve in such movements, as is the case with the construction shown in the Dearborn patent. The looper operating on a straight line, such as contemplated by the present invention, does not draw off as much thread as that operating on a curve and besides positively provides a more uniform tension, which is of very great importance in a machine of this character.

The feed devices, consisting of thetwo separate plates independently spring-pressed against the work, possess the advantageof the yielding and independent contact with the work, and these devices are readily adjustable to provide variation inthe feed of the material. It may be further explained in this connection that by reason of the independent yielding movement of plates 4 and.

5 in parallel planes one of said plates is permitted to yield, so as to adapt the machine to receive a double thickness of cloth on which one of said plates operates and a single thickness on which the other plate operates, this being a normal condition in overseaming.

In threading this machine thread from the bobbin 33 is taken through the guide between the tension-disks 28, thence through eyes in the posts 34, between which the take-up lever I swings, passing through an eye in the latter. From the post 34 the thread passes through suitable guides on the needlearm, thence along the under side of the needle, and u through the eye in the latter.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and'desire to secure by Letters Pat ent of the United States, is

1. In a sewing machine, the combination with the cloth-plate and feedingmechanism,

feed, a stationary guide-bearing,-a loopershaft mounted to oscillate in the bearing and also held by the latter to reciprocate in a fixed plane in parallelism to the cloth-plate, said shaft carrying at one end an eccentrically-supported looper-finger, and means for actuating the looper-shaft to "cause the finger to reciprocate in straight lines respectively above and below the path of the needle and to the other, substantially as set forth.

withthe cloth-plate, the feeding mechanism, and the needle arranged to reciprocate above the cloth-plate transverse to the line of feed,- of a. stationary horizontal guide -bearing, a looper-shaft mounted to oscillate in the bearing and also held thereby to reciprocation ina fixed plane in parallelism to the cloth-plate,

ally-supported looper-finger and provided with a flattened shouldered portion upon one side of its tip,- and means for actuating the to rock from one side of the-line of stitching- 2. In a sewing-machine, the combination said shaft carrying at one end an eccentric-' of the needle arranged to reciprocate above the'cloth-plate transversely to the line of shaft to cause the finger to reciprocate in straight lines respectively above and below the path of the needle, and to rock from one side of the line of stitching to the other.

In a sewing-machine, the combination with the cloth-plate, feeding mechanism, and the needle arranged to reciprocate above the cloth plate transversely to the line of feed, of a stationary horizontal guide-bearing, a looper-shaft mounted to oscillate in the bearing and also held thereby to reciprocation in a fixed plane in parallelism to the cloth-plate, said shaft carrying atone end an eccentrically-supported looper-finger and provided with a flattened shouldered portion upon one side of its tip and adjacent to and in rear of said flattened portionwith a transverse groove extending partially about the same,thc loope rfinger being also approximately flattened throughout upon the same side as the fiattened shoulderedportion, and means for actuating the shaft to reciprocate and rock the looper-finger.

with suitable stitch-forming mechanism, a normally stationary yieldingly-supported presser foot, a ,yieldingly mounted ridge forming rib engaging presser-foot and provided with openings in the opposite sides thereof,'two independentlyyielding feed devices arranged to project respectiv'ely through the openings in the'opposite sides of the rib, and common means for reciprocating both of said devices. in both a vertical and horizontal direction.

5. In a sewing-machine, the combination l with the stitch-forming mechanism, of a verthe work beneath the.

ICC

4. In a sewing-machine, the combination?" 7 sides thereof, ayieldingly-supported presser foot having a capmember straddling the rib, and a feeding mechanism including a vertically and horizontally movable supporting element, and a pair of independent yielding feed-plates carried by the said element and respectively working through the. opposite openings of the rib.

6. In a sewing-machine, the combination .with suitable stitch-forming mechanism, of

. a vertically-yielding cloth-plate having thereon an angular rib provided in the sides with openings, a yieldingly-mounted presser-foot fitting over the rib, and feed mechanism including a horizontally-reciprocating slide, a

vertically swinging support carried by said slide, a pair of duplicate independently-yielding feed-plates carried by said support and projecting respectivelythrough the separate openings of the rib, and an operating mechanism carried by the support for the clothplate and. having means for causing the feedplate to move in vertical and horizontal planes, substantially as set forth. 7

ISAAC P. DAVIS.

Witnesses p WM. H. CHAPIN, K. I. CLEMONS. 

